"You can not fail if you resolutely determine that you will not." -Abraham Lincoln

Pierre du Pont, Education & the 100 year journey

In 1919 Pierre du Pont began a quest for educational improvement, and from 1919 to 1938, more than $20 million was spent on school construction in Delaware, 1/4 of which came from Pierre, directly. Prior to Pierre’s death, he established the Longwood Foundation, which for the last 75 years has been a major driver of providing capital and operating dollars to thousands of Delaware’s non-profits — including tens of millions of dollars to education. The Longwood Foundation has been the major capital funder for our private and independent schools and a major driver of the growth of Charter Schools.

Today, Pierre’s legacy, his focus on education and an almost 100 year journey continues with a re-visit to the past. In the late 1920’s into the 1930’s, Pierre du Pont privately built over 90 schools for black students because the State of Delaware refused to improve education for black residents. Flash forward to today, and a quick look at the City of Wilmington in 2012 clearly shows that the State has still refused to build quality schools for black students — the City being largely populated with African-Americans and having no decent district schools within its borders and no high school at all.

Readers of this blog know that I tried to start a Charter High School in the City of Wilmington, but City leadership refused to help — and I wasn’t asking for money, just flexibility and good faith negotiations (That Charter School, The Delaware Academy of Public Safety & Security, is now in a successful first year in New Castle County and is, arguably, the most diverse public school in the State). So, I failed then, but I don’t take failure as an end state, just as an opportunity for a new beginning. Due to Bank of America’s corporate re-alignment & generosity, they have offered, and Pierre’s legacy, The Longwood Foundation, has agreed to take, one of the former MBNA buildings for donation. The Longwood Foundation plans to take that building and create the “Community Education Building” (CEB) and put 4 Charter Schools right in the heart of the City of Wilmington. Wilmington’s own “Charter School District” — an idea that I floated in January 2006 on a Comcast Newsmaker Broadcast but could find no supporters at the time. Furthermore, we will surround the CEB with educational resources like health, nutrition, special ed, etc.

It will be a difficult road forward , but a successful educational system is worth it. Saving human potential is worth it. The forces of mediocrity of arrayed against us (even the Governor in his remarks refused to mention the words “Charter School”) — we’ll need your help to fight the good fight and win…

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5 Responses

As I expressed myself at Red Clay’s board meeting last night I noted that my family has been in what is know as Red Clay for 100 years. Those of us who are Delawareans know the contribution the DuPont family has made in many areas ( you don’t have to put me in your will Charlie, that’s a freebie :))

Everyone had you pegged for wanting to start a charter school for the elitist and they were wrong. As far as Wilmington you know there is an education divide among it’s leaders and you know those leaders who try and do capitalize on public schools. Poverty should never be a profit center but the reality is, if we cure poverty some folks would lose profit.

I’ve made it know that I support charter school as a right of choice but I oppose some of the charter school laws that allow such things as admission based on intelligence. I support capital funding for charter school only if there is ownership in real-estate as if a charter organization calls it quite or order closed the people’s capital investment isn’t converted to commercial usage.

I see Race to The Top as bad for charter schools and undermine charter schools self autonomy. Funding is not sustainable and all will default on local taxpayers due to the alignment of state education regulations to Race to The Top. The United State Department of Education needs to end and that federal money returned to the states. The federal government can inject on human and civil rights involving local public schools but should not infringe on local school control that belongs to the public within.

The downside to charter schools is the brain-drain effect that pulls in most cases the top performing students even at high poverty levels and causes traditional school to become melting pots where student within don’t even have parents advocating for them. Naturally the brain-drain effect will cause achievement level in traditional public schools to fall. What would the DuPont company be like if China takes the top 20% of the best and brightest scientist?

I see the need for charter school as a response to concerns with the achievement gap and the intent was not to create schools for overachievers. When Race to The Top is over the winners will be Rupert Murdoch’s Wireless Generation and the Bush family’s presences in education related services. Delaware get approximately 9% federal education funding for K-12 excluding Race to The Top and much of that goes to compliance feeding bloated administration, consultants and testing companies who also are textbook and other material suppliers.

Sorry to rant and drift from topic , I know how you are with that.

Thanks for risking everything on a school that welcomes at-risk students and if it weren’t for DuPont employee healthcare I might have died at birth (true). So your family is responsible for all my ranting and dogging the system. Boy o Boy here comes Jason from DL🙂

[…] speculated last February that Charlie Copeland was involved in this and let slip some inside info. Charlie said in February: The Longwood Foundation plans to take that building and create the “Community Education […]